Judges 11:11

11:11 So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement¹ before the Lord in Mizpah.

Judges 11:30-31

11:30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me, 11:31 then whoever is the first to come through² the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites – he³ will belong to the Lord and⁴ I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.”

Judges 11:35-36

11:35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me!⁵ You have brought me disaster!⁶ I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.”⁷ 11:36 She said to him, “My father, since⁸ you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised.⁹ After all, the Lord vindicated you before¹⁰ your enemies, the Ammonites.”

¹tn Heb “spoke all his words.” This probably refers to the “words” recorded in v. 9. Jephthah repeats the terms of the agreement at the Lord’s sanctuary, perhaps to ratify the contract or to emphasize the Gileadites’ obligation to keep their part of the bargain. Another option is to translate, “Jephthah conducted business before the Lord in Mizpah.” In this case, the statement is a general reference to the way Jephthah ruled. He recognized the Lord’s authority and made his decisions before the Lord.

²tn Heb “the one coming out, who comes out from.” The text uses a masculine singular participle with prefixed article, followed by a relative pronoun and third masculine singular verb. The substantival masculine singular participle הַיּוֹצֵא (hayyotse’, “the one coming out”) is used elsewhere of inanimate objects (such as a desert [Num 21:13] or a word [Num 32:24]) or persons (Jer 5:6; 21:9; 38:2). In each case context must determine the referent. Jephthah may have envisioned an animal meeting him, since the construction of Iron Age houses would allow for an animal coming through the doors of a house (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 208). But the fact that he actually does offer up his daughter indicates the language of the vow is fluid enough to encompass human beings, including women. He probably intended such an offering from the very beginning, but he obviously did not expect his daughter to meet him first.

³tn The language is fluid enough to include women and perhaps even animals, but the translation uses the masculine pronoun because the Hebrew form is grammatically masculine.

⁴tn Some translate “or,” suggesting that Jephthah makes a distinction between humans and animals. According to this view, if a human comes through the door, then Jephthah will commit him/her to the Lord’s service, but if an animal comes through the doors, he will offer it up as a sacrifice. However, it is far more likely that the Hebrew construction (vav [ו] + perfect) specifies how the subject will become the Lord’s, that is, by being offered up as a sacrifice. For similar constructions, where the apodosis of a conditional sentence has at least two perfects (each with vav) in sequence, see Gen 34:15-16; Exod 18:16.

⁵tn Heb “you have brought me very low,” or “you have knocked me to my knees.” The infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis.

⁶tn Heb “You are among [or “like”] those who trouble me.”

⁷tn Heb “I opened my mouth to the Lord and I am not able to return.”

⁸tn The conjunction “since” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁹tn Heb “you opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to [what] went out from your mouth.”

¹⁰tn Or “has given you vengeance against.”